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Council's favourite litter advocate takes her message on the road

04 October 2017

Council’s most famous litter advocate has had a makeover and is taking her environmental message on the road.

The City of Greater Dandenong received a Litter Innovation grant from Sustainability Victoria to expand the #msnobutts program and create nine costumes which can be used in Greater Dandenong and by other councils across Victoria.

#msnobutts is part of the City of Greater Dandenong’s Litter Hotspots Program – a Victorian government initiative supporting community programs that seek to tackle the impact of litter on local waterways.

The campaign takes a tongue in cheek approach to encouraging people to dispose of cigarette butts in the right way.As well as educating residents about the importance of binning their butts, #msnobutts also distributes free personal cigarette butt bins to make it even easier for the community to do the right thing.

Greater Dandenong Mayor Councillor Jim Memeti said the campaign had recently won a Keep Victoria Beautiful Sustainable City Award.

“It is pleasing to see the campaign being embraced by the local community and so many people coming on board to help spread this important anti-littering message,” Cr Memeti said.

“The campaign has attracted widespread media interest and it is fair to say #msnobutts has become a bit of a celebrity.”Mayor Memeti said everyone had a role to play in helping make our city cleaner and greener.

“Our waterways are particularly vulnerable to cigarette butt litter, which is easily swept in to stormwater drains,” Cr Memeti said.

“When you throw your cigarette butts on the ground they can end up in the waterways that lead to Dandenong Creek, Port Phillip Bay and beyond, with potentially devastating impacts on local habitats.”

It is estimated the Litter Hotspots Program has prevented over 10,000 cigarette butts from entering waterways in the past year alone.

#msnobutts is not shy and Council is inviting those who see her around the city to help spread the ‘no butts’ message by taking a photo and sharing it on social media with the hashtag #msnobutts.